måndag 23 januari 2017

Sound the Trumpets in Antarctica

Sound the Trumpets in AntarcticaDecember 17 – 24, 2016

What a challenge! What an
adventure! What a privilege! After 7 years and over 100 missions in 80
countries, this „last“ region wouldn’t be anything special – one could think.
Totally wrong! It was and is unique and breaks up every accustomed framework!
What made this region so special for us?– In every other region on
earth I can buy a plane ticket as a private person, can book accommodations and
can set out.This is not true of the
Antarctic region. You can get there only in the form of an expedition, that is,
only through a few specialized providers and only with a group. There are no
hotels, no guest houses, no youth hostels – no lodgings or restaurants.– In every other region of
the world (including Greenland) we had
contacts and relationships with Christians who planned and carried out the
meetings with us.In the Antarctic there are
no cities or villages, thus no Christian congregations, either. There are only
individual research stations belonging to different nations. But they are not
always used and open.– In every region a person
blew the trumpets with me.In this sense the Antarctic
„belongs“ to no nation, to no one at all except of course the Lord (Ps. 24:1).
So there was no one who could blow the trumpet with me.

All of this makes it
special, but when God calls, equips and sends he also paves the way and sees to
it that HIS will can be done! Already at the beginning of 2016 God gave us the
impression that we should blow the trumpets on King George
Island. We knew that
there at the Russian station the southernmost church in the world stands.
That’s where we wanted/had to go!Already when we began
gathering information, planning and preparing we had a big surprise. Through
our son, who is on the Abraham team and works for a travel agent, we wrote to
two Antarctic travel companies. For over a month we heard nothing from one of
them. The other offered a one-day flight from Punta Arenas
(Chile) to King George
Island, with a 4-hour
stop there including a visit to the Russian station. We were beginning to think
we would take this offer and made a temporary reservation. But they required at
least 4 and at the most 6 persons. Several others were also interested in
joining us.At the last minute the
other company contacted us, after all, offering a combined ship/plane trip.
That sounded considerably more interesting than just a flight – and for nearly
the same price! There was only one problem: Time was running out and there was
only one free double cabin on the ship for a somewhat (haha) „affordable“
price. The next higher price class would cost almost twice as much. We had to
decide very quickly.Jonas was one of those who
had expressed interest in joining us. On all the other trips my wife
Regula was with me, in addition to further team members or believers. Although
Regula had always come along, she had the impression that this time Jonas and I
should travel alone. She would remain at home, with a heavy heart, but
convinced that it was God’s will. I had quite a problem with this idea even
though I was of course also very happy that Jonas wanted to come. This was in
spite of the fact that he had to overcome several hindrances… (unpaid vacation, postponement of military info day).Then God reminded me of a
word Regula gave me early in 2016 for the year; it helped me and gave me
clarity at this time. We booked the cabin for Jonas and myself. Then we
explained the circumstances to all the others who were interested and informed
them that they could not join us. We were able to cancel the pre-reservations
at the other company without any consequences. Jonas’ hindrances were of course
overcome and there was nothing else to prevent him from going with me. So we
flew from Zürich to Ushuaia, where we arrived in the morning after 36 hours and
3 plane changes. In the afternoon we boarded the ship on which we would spend
the following 4 days and nights, along with about 60 other passengers.

The ship took us through
the Drake Passage with a stop and landing at
Puerto Williams. The following stop was Cape Horn,
which I hadn’t realized is an island. It even has a small chapel with a cross
and 3 Bibles! I read Psalm 24 out loud from the German version!It was fascinating to see
how God led and encouraged us through his word.In Isaiah 42:4 we read „He
will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the
earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.” We where on the way to bring the
coastlands (islands) Gods law! Wow! This touched me deeply. They also have to
hear the trumpets.The day before we planned
to blow the trumpets God gave us this verse, „See, I have placed before you an
open door that no one can shut“ (Rev. 3:8). What a promise! We had asked the
expedition leader if we could go inside the church, since that was the reason
for our trip. He promised to speak with his Russian friends and was confident
that the church would be open. Following our Lord’s promise, we didn’t doubt
this in the least!

King George
Island. We have arrived!I stand with Jonas in the
little Russian-Orthodox church – which of course was open. We pray and blow the
trumpets. Father and son! Two generations. By now we had realized that Jonas
had to join me for this reason. Here from this unreal, raw, beautiful, wild and
most remote place on earth we blow the trumpets in the spirit of Elijah and
thus pray the last verses of the Old Testament: „See, I will send you the
prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will
turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the
children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a
curse“ (Malachi 4:5-6).After blowing the trumpets
twice a man suddenly appears and said we weren’t allowed to do that here. It
was a place for prayer, not for music. I apologize and try to explain that what
we’re doing is a form of prayer. I quote a few Bible verses to back this
up but he remains obstinate. So we have to/are able to blow the trumpets the
third time outside the church. We see it as a prophetic sign that God’s message
must ultimately be carried out beyond the churches! Here we also pray Ps. 24:1
and bless Israel
and the Jews from this pace at the end of the world. We pray for God to gather
his people right here in the south.

We have actually done it! I
didn’t even experience a particular, impressive, emotional firework during or
following the trumpet call at this place. It was very sober. No heavy burden
fell off. No great euphoria. But a deep, humble and marvelling gratitude filled
us.We also had daily
opportunities during meals to speak with the other participants and staff,
explaining why we made this trip. This of course generated questions and led to
good conversations. Thank you Jesus!„Ask of me, and I will make
the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession“ (Ps. 2:8).W.W.